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Spring has sprung and while the change is welcome, it is often when problems emerge that gained a foothold last year.

The birch skeletonizer, Bucculatrix canadensisella, is a native North American moth. The caterpillars skeletonize the leaves of birch trees.

The armored obscure scale is a key pest of oak in Pennsylvania, and can attack other woody host plants such as beech, dogwood, hickory, maple, and willow.

The most common host plants of Cooley spruce gall adelgid are Colorado blue spruce and Douglas-fir that are grown as landscape ornamentals and Christmas trees.

The old house borer is an injurious wood-boring insect. The larva bores through pine, spruce, and other coniferous woods, weakening structural timbers.

Learn holly propagation, selection, and landscape use, including integrating native plants and steps to become a Certified Holly Arboretum.

Learn to identify common Pennsylvania trees and understand their ecological importance. Explore how thoughtful planting choices can support biodiversity and strengthen local ecosystems.

The fall cankerworm is a native pest of hardwood trees in North America. It causes some defoliation in the forest every year, with larger outbreaks occasionally.

The tuliptree scale is a pest of yellow poplar, or tuliptree, magnolia, and linden. This soft scale insect is so prolific that it can cover twigs and branches.

Explore underutilized trees and shrubs and learn practical strategies to enhance landscapes, support biodiversity, and promote sustainable production systems.

Learn to identify oak wilt, bacterial leaf scorch, and other common issues. Gain practical skills in diagnosis, sampling, and management to support effective oak health decisions.

Several varieties of currants and gooseberries are available and described below. Only varieties of black currants with good resistance to white pink blister rust are included.

Prepare for the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture’s certified pesticide applicator exam while learning safe, effective, and environmentally responsible pesticide use practices.

Phomopsis twig blight and canker is a very common fungal disease in plantings. In addition to causing a twig blight and cankers, the fungus also causes leaf spots and a fruit rot.

The cranberry fruitworm, Acrobasis vaccinii (Riley), is found throughout the eastern United States wherever wild blueberries grow and can damage cultivated crops.

Blueberry varieties can be selected so that you have crops to be harvested from July through mid-September, if desired.

The plum curculio is dark brown, 1/4 inch long, and has four humps on its back and a long (one-third of the body length) snout projecting forward and downward from its head.

Black root rot a "disease complex," meaning that it can be caused by various pathogens combined with environmental stresses.

Crown and cane gall are bacterial diseases with no cure that constrain plant vigor and can cause plant death.

Learn the identification characteristics of the invasive tree-of-heaven and be able to distinguish it from the native look-alikes, black walnut and staghorn sumac.

Red, black, and purple raspberries, as well as blackberries, are easy to grow in the home garden.

Sooty blotch and flyspeck of apple are separate diseases affecting apple, crabapple, and pear trees. Oftentimes, both diseases are present on the same fruit.

Climatic irregularities govern the activities of the plum curculio, Conotrachelus nenuphar, a pest injurious to pome and stone fruits throughout the state.

Lesser peachtree borer is almost always associated with widespread incidence of Cytospora canker and, to a much lesser extent, pruning wounds, winter injury, and mechanical damage.

The Japanese beetle, Popillia japonica, is often the most important pest of tree-ripened peaches and can cause severe damage to other important crops.